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Greene play-fake works again

ATLANTA - It's a play David Greene has made a living on during his three years as Georgia's quarterback.

Georgia's Tech's defense should have been prepared.

After the Bulldogs' first two possessions resulted in a fumble and only nine yards, Greene faked a handoff to tailback Michael Cooper and held the ball on his hip while receiver Fred Gibson streaked downfield.

The result: a 46-yard completion that set up the Bulldogs' first score when center Nick Jones recovered a fumble in the end zone for Georgia's initial touchdown in Saturday's 34-17 win.

"Plays like that don't work against defenses which are not that good," Bulldog coach Mark Richt said. "It only works against good defenses that run to the football, defenses that run up to make a hit."

Greene wasn't surprised that the play worked as well as it did.

"We saw their safety, he was coming up. He liked to stick his nose in our running game," he said. "I probably held the ball a little too long, because when I turned around their other safety realized I had it and he was running back. Coming out of that angle I had to throw it on the run."

But the "Rooskie," as described by Greene, worked anyway although it took a great catch by Gibson. It was the first time the Bulldogs attempted the play this year after trying three times in 2002.

"I thought somewhere along the line we might get the opportunity," Richt said. "I thought it might be more of a short-yardage opportunity, but they were doing such a great job on us I felt we needed some kind of momentum and it did work out for us."

SUBHEAD:Personal fouls come as no surprise to Richt

Georgia Tech and Georgia combined for seven personal fouls, but Richt said it was just a matter of the officials trying to keep the game from getting out of hand.

"It's a heated rivalry. I know the officials knew that and they knew there was a lot of jawing, extracurricular, right around the whistle," Richt said.

"The officials, when they are seeing that kind of thing, they'll throw the flag for personal foul to keep the game under control."

The strangest personal foul came in the second quarter when Tech quarterback Reggie Ball was hit with a penalty following an out-of-bounds play when he made contact with Harris Patel, one of the Bulldogs' student trainers.

SUBHEAD:Jones relishes first career touchdown

Jones said he was just in the right place at the right time when he recovered Greene's first-quarter fumble in the end zone for the Bulldogs' first score.

"My first thought was to jump on the ball," said Jones, who recalled recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown while in middle school. "This was a lot more fun."

SUBHEAD:Ball talks trash, but can't back it up

Bulldog safety Thomas Davis expected there to be a lot of trash talking with the Yellow Jackets. He just didn't expect Yellow Jacket quarterback Reggie Ball to be the one doing the talking.

"He was doing a lot of trash talking. I didn't expect that from him," Davis said. "It seemed like he took some of his focus away from the game."

But Davis said Georgia's defense didn't mind.

"We kind of liked it," he said.

"He was talking way more than anybody on the field."

This and that

Gibson's three receptions for 96 yards enabled the junior to move up to fourth in Bulldog history with 2,042 career receiving yards . . . Michael Cooper's first-quarter fumble was the first by a Bulldog running back this year . . . Sophomore Bryan McClendon's blocked punt in the first quarter was the first of his career and Georgia's second this year to go with three blocked field goals . . . With sophomore Bartley Miller out for the third straight game, Georgia shifted its offensive line like it has its last two games with sophomore center Russ Tanner moving to right guard and Jones getting the start at center . . . The Bulldogs were 5 of 6 in Red Zone opportunities (four touchdowns, one field goal and one punt).